Commercially subsidized mobile communication devices and services

ABSTRACT

Mobile communication devices, such as mobile phones, may be capable of recommending to a user various providers of one or more solicited services, e.g., by identifying a user location and identifying providers near the user location that provide the services, and by initiating a call between the user and a selected provider. However, the equipment and service costs of such devices may be prohibitive, particularly for mid-range mobile communication devices that may appeal to cost-conscious users. The prohibitive costs may be diminished by redirecting part or all of the cost of providing the recommendation service from the providers, e.g., by charging the provider a service cost upon initiating a call from the user to the provider, or upon representing the provider in a provider database. In one such embodiment, all service costs may be borne by providers, providing to the user a free recommendation service via the mobile communication device.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/701,539, filed on Feb. 6, 2010 entitled “COMMERCIALLY SUBSIDIZEDMOBILE COMMUNICATION DEVICES AND SERVICES,” the entirety of which isincorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

In the field of mobile computing, a mobile device may be capable ofproviding recommendations for local services. For example, a globalpositioning system (GPS) device may be configured to receive a queryfrom a user for a particular type of service, such as a particular typeof food or the sale of fuel, and to display the names and locations ofnearby providers of such services. Similarly, a cellphone phone maypermit users to call an information line and receive recommendations fora particular type of service in a specified city and to contact theproviders, e.g., to inquire about the provided services and the hours ofoperation. A GPS-equipped cellphone device may provide both suchcapabilities by locating the current position of the user, displayingnearby providers of selected services, and allowing the user to contactthe providers.

SUMMARY

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key factors oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

While mobile communication devices may be configured both to locatenearby providers of a desired service and to contact the providers, theprovision of such services to the user may be costly. As a firstexample, such capabilities may entail comparatively sophisticatedhardware and software, including a GPS receiver or other geolocationdevice, mapping hardware or software, a high-quality display that mayrender useful maps, and cellular communications hardware. Moreover, theuser may wish to communicate with providers of such services in otherways, such as by visiting the websites of the providers, and the mobilecommunication device may comprise a robust processor, a significantamount of higher-performance memory, Internet communicationsinfrastructure (e.g., a TCP/IP protocol stack), a general-purpose webbrowser, and various input mechanisms (e.g., a hardware keyboard or atouchscreen coupled with a software keyboard.) This equipment may resultin a higher cost of the mobile communication device that is tooexpensive for some users. As a second example, such capabilities involvecomparatively high service charges; e.g., communications with providersof the solicited services may be charged against a user's per-minutemetered call plan for the duration of a call to a service provider or aper-kilobyte metered internet access plan for visiting the websites ofvarious providers. This consumption of the user's metered data servicesmay be too expensive for many users, thereby diminishing or preventingthese users' participation in the provider search services. As a thirdexample, the mobile communication device may not even have ageneral-purpose communication interface that is accessible to the user(or the costs associated therewith), but may be configured tocommunicate only with providers of a solicited service.

One technique that may be implemented to address these cost problemsinvolves a subsidization of the search service by the potentialproviders of such services. For example, part or all of the costs of themobile communication device may be subsidized by the providers of suchservices, and/or the charge of a metered data plan for a communicationsession established between a user and a provider of a solicited servicemay be partly or wholly charged to the provider instead of to the user.The mobile communication device may therefore be configured to supportthe charging of some portion of the service charge of the device to theproviders of solicited services, thereby rendering the device and thesearch service more affordable for the users. This improvedaffordability may consequently promote the acquisition of such devicesand the utilization of the service by more cost-conscious users.Moreover, the charges to a particular provider may be computedproportionally to the benefit of the utilized service to the provider,such as per impression (e.g., upon recommending a provider of asolicited service to a user) or per “click-through” (e.g., uponinitiating a communication session between the user and the providerrelating to the solicited service.) Alternatively, these techniques maybe utilized in a mobile communication device (e.g., a GPS receiver) thatdoes not have a data plan or a general-purpose communication interface,but that is capable of communicating with providers of solicitedservices.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the followingdescription and annexed drawings set forth certain illustrative aspectsand implementations. These are indicative of but a few of the variousways in which one or more aspects may be employed. Other aspects,advantages, and novel features of the disclosure will become apparentfrom the following detailed description when considered in conjunctionwith the annexed drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an exemplary scenario featuring aconnection of users with providers of a solicited service through mobilecommunication devices.

FIG. 2 is another illustration of an exemplary scenario featuring aconnection of users with providers of a solicited service through mobilecommunication devices.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method of connecting auser of a mobile communication device with at least one provider of aservice solicited by the user.

FIG. 4 is a component block diagram illustrating an exemplary system forconnecting a user of a mobile communication device with at least oneprovider of a service solicited by the user.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of an exemplary computer-readable mediumcomprising processor-executable instructions configured to embody one ormore of the provisions set forth herein.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of an exemplary selection of providers by amobile communication device from a provider database.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of an exemplary presentation of a selectedprovider to a user by a mobile communication device.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary scenario featuring the provision ofvarious additional services to a user of a mobile communication deviceon behalf of a provider.

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary computing environment wherein one ormore of the provisions set forth herein may be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The claimed subject matter is now described with reference to thedrawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to likeelements throughout. In the following description, for purposes ofexplanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of the claimed subject matter. It may beevident, however, that the claimed subject matter may be practicedwithout these specific details. In other instances, structures anddevices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitatedescribing the claimed subject matter.

In the field of mobile computing, many scenarios may involve asolicitation of a user of a mobile device for a service. For example, auser may request the locations of fuel depots, vehicle repair services,lodging, or restaurants serving a particular type of food. The usermight enter such queries into a global positioning system (GPS)receiver, which may locate relevant providers of such services near theuser, may display the locations of the providers on a map of the localeof the user, and may provide directions from the user location to aprovider selected by the user. Alternatively, the user might enter suchqueries into a mobile phone, which may call a human or automated service(e.g., a 411 or information service) for a list of recommendations ofproviders of the desired service(s) within a desired location, and whichmay assist the user in calling a selected provider of such services(e.g., to inquire about the provided services, the costs thereof, or thehours of operation of the provider.) A hybrid mobile device mightcomprise both a mobile phone and a GPS receiver, and might assist theuser both in locating nearby services and in contacting the recommendedproviders in order to negotiate the provision of the solicited services.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary scenario 10 featuring two such mobiledevices that may be utilized in this capacity. In this scenario, a firstuser 12 of a mobile communication device 14 (e.g., a cellphone) submitsa user query 16 for providers 22 of a particular type of service 24,e.g., a request for recommendations of restaurants serving a particulartype of food. The mobile communication device 14 may process the userquery 16 against a provider database 20 (which may be partially orwholly locally accessible, such as a database stored in the memory ofthe mobile communication device 14, and/or partially or wholly remotelyaccessible, such as a database hosted on a server that the mobilecommunication device 14 may access) and may present to the user 12 a setof recommendations 18 of providers 22. The mobile communication device14 may also be serviced by a communications service provider 28, e.g., acellular phone company that provides mobile phone service. Often, suchservices are provided subject to a metered data plan 30, whereby theuser 12 is permitted a particular allotment of data (e.g., a number ofminutes that may be used in calls within a particular period.) Relyingon the metered data plan 30, the first user 12 may then select aparticular provider 22 and may use the mobile communication device 14 toinitiate a communication session 26 with the provider 22 regarding thesolicited service 24, e.g., a telephone call to the restaurant to placea food order. The communications service provider 28 may deduct the datausage of the communication session 26 from the metered data plan 30(e.g., as a service cost 32 deducted from the service allotment of theuser 12 within the metered data plan 30, or an overage charge that maybe assessed against the user 12 for exceeding the service allotment ofthe metered data plan 30.)

The exemplary scenario 10 of FIG. 1 also illustrates a second user 34who may similarly solicit services 24 from various providers 22 using amobile communication device 36. However, this mobile communicationdevice 36 may be configured to permit communication with providers 22through a web interface, e.g., a web browser 38 through which may beviewed the provider websites 40 of various providers 22. In exchange forthis enhanced capability, the second user 34 may pay a device cost 42for the mobile communication device 36 (by contrast with the first user12, who may pay little or no device cost for the simpler mobilecommunication device 14.) The second user 34 submits the user query 16soliciting the service 24 to the mobile communication device 36, whichprocesses the user query 16 against the provider database 20 andprovides a set of recommendations 18 of various providers 22 that may beable to provide the service 24. Instead of calling a selected provider22 as performed by the first user 12, the second user 34 may use themobile communication device 36 to access the provider website 40 of theselected provider 22 in regard to the service 24 (e.g., in order toexamine the menu of the restaurant or to place a food order online.)This accessing may be handled by the communications service provider 28,which may provide internet access (e.g., web service) to the mobilecommunication device 36 according to a metered data plan 30, such as acap on the number of megabytes of data that may be transferred inbrowsing sessions within a particular period. Accordingly, thecommunications service provider 28 may receive the request to visit theprovider website 40 and may initiate a communication session 26 (e.g., abrowser session with access to the internet) between the second user 34and the provider website 40 (which may, e.g., be hosted by a third partyon behalf of the provider 22.) The second user 34 may thereforecommunicate with the service provider 22, and the data exchange involvedin the communication session 26 may be deducted from the metered dataplan 30 of the second user 34 (e.g., as a service charge 44 deductedfrom the service allotment of the second user 34, or as an overagecharge to be assessed against the second user 34 for exceeding theservice allotment of the metered data plan 30.) In this manner, themobile communication devices facilitate the user 34 in selectingrecommended providers 22 of solicited services 24.

These scenarios illustrate a few techniques for interfacing a user 12with the providers 22 of various services 24 through a mobilecommunication device 14. However, these scenarios illustrate somedrawbacks that may discourage or preclude more cost-conscious users 12from participating in these scenarios. As a first example, the servicecost 32 may deter users 12 who have metered data plans 30 with low datalimits or who use a significant portion of their data limits within thedesignated period, and who may therefore decline to utilize the providerrecommendation service in order to avoid service overage charges. As asecond example, more sophisticated mobile communication device 14 mayhave a comparatively high device cost 42 to the user 12. While simplermobile communication devices 14 might be provided by the communicationsservice provider 28 at a free or reduced price, more sophisticateddevices may be prohibitively expensive to acquire for cost-conscioususers 12. For example, in order to provide internet access (in lieu ofand/or in addition to phone communication), the second mobilecommunication device 36 features a hard keyboard, a larger orhigher-quality display, communications hardware and software thattogether implement a network communication protocol (e.g., a TCP/IPprotocol stack), an implementation of a web browser 38, and a moresophisticated processor and memory that are utilized in executing theweb browser 38 and rendering the provider website 40. This hardware andsoftware often entails a higher device cost 42 for acquiring the mobilecommunication device 36. Moreover, the communications service provider28 may charge additional fees for data access, which may be additionalto service fees for mobile phone service. Thus, even if a user 12 wishesto acquire and use a mobile communication device 14 that is capable ofpresenting recommendations for providers 22 of solicited services 24,the costs of the mobile communication device 14 and the communicationsservice may be prohibitive for cost-conscious users 12, thereby reducingparticipation in the recommendation service and the patronage of theproviders 22 by the users 12.

Conversely, the providers 22 of such services 24 may achieve higherpatronage and greater profit by promoting the acquisition andutilization of recommendation-providing mobile communication devices 14by users 12. Providers 22 may therefore be interested in promoting theuptake of such devices by subsidizing the acquisition and service costs.For example, a provider 22 may be willing to pay the service cost 32 fora communication session 26 with the user 12 ensuing from arecommendation of the provider 22 for the solicited service 24; and agroup of such providers 22 may together contribute a subsidy to reducethe costs of mobile communication devices 14 that are capable ofrecommending such providers 22 in response to user queries 16 submittedby the users 12 of such devices. As a result, the user 12 may receive abetter mobile communication device 14 at a reduced cost, and may freelyor more cheaply access the recommendation service; the communicationsservice provider 28 may benefit by offering more sophisticated equipmentand additional services to its users 12 at more affordable rates; andthe providers 22 may benefit from greater patronage of services 24resulting from the recommendations to the users 12.

FIG. 2 illustrates a second exemplary scenario 50 featuring therecommendation of providers 22 of a solicited service 24 to users 12 ina manner that distributes the costs in a manner that facilitates userparticipation through the acquisition and utilization of accordinglyconfigured mobile communication devices 14. In this exemplary scenario50, a user 12 may again submit a user query 16 for a solicited service24 to the mobile communication device 14, which may search a providerdatabase 20 and may provide recommendations 18 for various providers 22of the service 24. The user 12 may then select a provider 22, and themobile communication device 14 may initiate the communication session 26(e.g., a telephone call) between the user 12 and the provider 22 throughthe communications service provider 28. However, instead of deducting aservice cost 32 from a metered data plan of the user 12, thecommunications service provider 28 may charge the service cost 32 to theprovider 22 of the service 24, with reduced or no penalty to the metereddata plan of the user 12. This redirection of the charge for thecommunication session 26 may promote the user 12 in utilizing therecommendation service and patronizing the provider 22. Alternatively oradditionally, the second user 34 may acquire the second mobilecommunication device 36 having more sophisticated hardware and softwarein order to utilize the recommendation services and to communicate withrecommended providers 22 of solicited services 24 through the webbrowser 38. In order to promote this arrangement, the provider 22 mayprovide a device subsidy 54 to offset the device cost 42 to the seconduser 34, therefore encouraging or enabling cost-conscious users toacquire the more sophisticated mobile communication device 36 at anaffordable price. As a subsidizer of this mobile communication device36, the provider 22 may then benefit by being included in the providerdatabase 20 accessible through the device, and may therefore achievegreater patronage of its services 24. In this manner, the subsidizationof the device costs 42 to users 12 and the redirection of the servicecharge for the communication session 26 with the provider 22 may reducethe participation costs of the recommendation system to the user 12,thereby promoting uptake and utilization. In one such example, themobile communication device 36 may not have a separate data plan,thereby entailing no service charges to the user 12, but if theproviders 22 cover the full service costs 32, the user 12 maynevertheless be able to communicate with providers 22 of solicitedservices 24 at no cost.

FIG. 3 presents an illustration of a first exemplary embodiment of thesetechniques as an exemplary method 60 of connecting a user 12 of a mobilecommunication device 14 with at least one provider 22 of a service 24solicited by the user 12. The mobile communication device 14 referred toin this exemplary method 60 may comprise a processor, may have access toa provider database 20 (e.g., a locally stored provider database, and/ora remotely stored provider database with which the mobile communicationdevice 14 may interact.) The mobile communication device 14 is alsocoupled with a service charge, such as may be assessed by acommunications service provider 28 upon establishing a communicationsession 26 between the user 12 and another (mobile or stationary)communication device. The exemplary method 60 begins at 62 and involvesexecuting 64, on the processor, instructions configured to implement thetechniques discussed herein. More specifically, the exemplary method 60involves, upon detecting 66 a user query 16 of at least one solicitedservice 22, identifying 68 in the provider database 20 at least oneprovider 22 offering the solicited service 24, and presenting 70 to theuser 12 the at least one provider 22. The exemplary method 60 alsoinvolves, upon detecting a user selection of a provider 22, initiating72 a communication session 26 between the user 12 and the provider 22.Finally, the exemplary method 60 involves charging 74 to the at leastone provider 22 at least a portion of the service cost 32. Havingconnected the user 12 to a provider 22 of the solicited service 24 whileshifting at least part of the service cost 32 to the provider 22, theexemplary method thereby achieves an improved cost structure of therecommendation service that benefits the user 12, the provider 22, andthe communications service provider 28, and so ends at 76.

FIG. 4 presents another illustration of the techniques discussed hereinas an exemplary scenario 80 featuring an exemplary system 92 interfacingwith a mobile communication device 82 and configured to connect a user12 of the mobile communication device 82 with at least one provider 22of a service 24 solicited by the user 12. The mobile communicationdevice 82 in this exemplary scenario 80 features an input component 86,which may be operated by the user 12 to submit a user query 16, and adisplay 88, which may be operated by the mobile communication device 82to present to the user 12 a set of recommendations 18 of providers 22 ofa solicited service 24. The mobile communication device 82 also featuresa processor 90, which may execute instructions that implement part orall of the exemplary system 92. The mobile communication device 82 alsohas access to a provider database 84 (which may, e.g., be stored locallywithin the mobile communication device 82 and/or may be stored remotelyin a database with which the mobile communication device 82 mayinteract), and may initiate communication sessions 26 via acommunication service provider 28, which may assess a service cost 32 inrelation to the communication service. Within this exemplary mobilecommunication device 82, the exemplary system 92 of FIG. 4 comprises aprovider presenting component 94, which may configured to, upondetecting a user query 16 (e.g., received through the input component86) of at least one solicited service 24, identify in the providerdatabase 20 at least one provider 22 offering the solicited service 24,and to present to the user 12 (e.g., on the display 88) the at least oneprovider 22. The exemplary system 92 also comprises a communicationsession initiating component 96, which may be configured to, upondetecting (e.g., through the input component 86) a user selection of aprovider 22, initiate a communication session 26 between the user 12 andthe provider 22. Finally, the exemplary system 92 may comprise aprovider charging component 98, which may be configured to charge to theat least one provider 22 at least a portion of the service cost 32. Theexemplary system 92 may therefore operate within the mobilecommunication device 82 to facilitate the user 12 in identifying andcontacting providers 22 of a solicited service 24, while alsoredirecting at least a portion of the costs thereof to the providers 22in order to promote user participation in the recommendation system.

Still another embodiment involves a computer-readable medium comprisingprocessor-executable instructions configured to apply the techniquespresented herein. An exemplary computer-readable medium that may bedevised in these ways is illustrated in FIG. 5, wherein theimplementation 100 comprises a computer-readable medium 102 (e.g., aCD-R, DVD-R, or a platter of a hard disk drive), on which is encodedcomputer-readable data 104. This computer-readable data 104 in turncomprises a set of computer instructions 106 configured to operateaccording to the principles set forth herein. In one such embodiment,the processor-executable instructions 106 may be configured to perform amethod of connecting a user of a mobile communication device with atleast one provider of a service solicited by the user, such as theexemplary method 60 of FIG. 3. In another such embodiment, theprocessor-executable instructions 106 may be configured to implement asystem for connecting a user of a mobile communication device with atleast one provider of a service solicited by the user, such as theexemplary system 92 of FIG. 4. Many such computer-readable media may bedevised by those of ordinary skill in the art that are configured tooperate in accordance with the techniques presented herein.

The techniques discussed herein may be devised with variations in manyaspects, and some variations may present additional advantages and/orreduce disadvantages with respect to other variations of these and othertechniques. Moreover, some variations may be implemented in combination,and some combinations may feature additional advantages and/or reduceddisadvantages through synergistic cooperation. The variations may beincorporated in various embodiments (e.g., the exemplary method 60 ofFIG. 3 and the exemplary system 92 of FIG. 4) to confer individualand/or synergistic advantages upon such embodiments.

A first aspect that may vary among embodiments of these techniquesrelates to the scenarios within which such techniques are implemented.As a first variation of this first aspect, many types of mobilecommunication devices 14 may be capable of establishing many forms ofcommunication sessions 26 with which these techniques may interface. Amobile cellphone device or two-way radio device may be advantageous forestablishing voice-based communications with various providers 22. Amobile camera device may provide a visual and/or audiovisualcommunication session with such providers 22. Various text-based mobilecommunication devices 12 may establish various types of textualcommunication sessions 26 with providers, such as via SMS message,instant message or other form of textual chat, or email communication. Amobile network communications device, such as a mobile device featuringa web browser, may establish interactive communication sessions 26 withvarious automated services offered by a provider 22, such as a websitehosted by a webserver on behalf of the provider 22. Other types ofcommunication sessions, or combinations thereof, may also be initiatedand established by such mobile communication devices 14.

As a second variation of this first aspect, these techniques may beutilized with mobile communication devices 14 having many types ofarchitectures. As a first example, the mobile communication device 14may comprise many types of input components 86 through which a userquery 16 may be received, e.g., a text entry component such as ahardware keyboard, a touchscreen component (which may be associated witha software keyboard), or a handwriting or voice recognition componentcapable of parsing written or spoken user queries 16. As a secondexample, the mobile communication device 14 may comprise many types ofpresenting components that may be capable of presenting therecommendations 18 arising from a user query 16, e.g., a display 88 thatmay visually present providers 22 in a text or pictorial manner, or aspeaker that may audibly present the providers 22. For example, themobile communication device 14 may comprise a mobile phone having adisplay, which may be configured to present providers 22 to the user 12by displaying the providers 22 on the display, and may initiatecommunication sessions comprising a call initiated to a telephone numberassociated with a selected provider 22.

As a third example of this second variation, the provider database 20may be partly or wholly stored in a local database memory of the mobilecommunication device 14, which may be configured to store locally atleast a portion of the provider database 20. For example, the providerdatabase 20 may be wholly stored in a static or flash RAM, or an opticalor magnetic disc. In this architecture, a provider presenting component94 may be configured to identify the at least one provider 22 bysearching the provider database 20 stored in the local database memory,which may enable comparatively quick searches that do not rely oncommunication with a remote database server. Alternatively, the mobilecommunication device 14 may comprise a local cache, which may store aportion of the provider database 20 that is hosted remotely (e.g., theset of providers 22 of a service 24 that were previously sent inresponse to a previous execution of a similar user query 16, or the setof providers 22 of various services 24 within a particular range of thelocation of the user 12.) The inclusion of a local cache may permitquicker and out-of-band evaluation of searches based on previouslyexecuted queries or on predicted queries. As another alternative, theprovider database 20 may be stored on a remote server with which themobile communication device 14 may be capable of interacting.

As a third variation of this first aspect, the mobile communicationdevices 12 many forms of communication service providers 28 may assessvarious forms of service costs 32 in relation to the establishment ofcommunications services. The communication service provider 28 may offercellular, satellite, and/or other wide-area communication services, ormay offer communication services via more localized services, such asWiFi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, or fiber-optic. The service costs 32 may alsobe calculated in many ways, such as by duration (e.g., a limit ofminutes used during communication sessions 26 per month), by data volume(e.g., a limit of data transferred during communication sessions 26, ora maximum data rate that may be utilized by the mobile communicationdevice 14), or by cost (e.g., a prepaid communication service thatpermits various forms of communication at different rates whilededucting such service costs from a prepaid account.) Alternatively, thecommunication service provider 28 may not offer general-purposecommunications through the mobile communication device 14 (and may notcharge any service costs 32 to the user 12), but may permit the mobilecommunication device 14 to initiate communication sessions 26 with theproviders 22 of solicited services 24, and may accordingly charge all ofthe service costs 32 of such communication sessions 26 to the providers22.

As a fourth variation of this first aspect, the relationship of thecommunication service provider 28 with the mobile communication device14 may take many forms. The communication service provider 28 may haveno particular relationship with or control over the mobile communicationdevice 14; e.g., the communication service provider 28 may simply offercommunication services to any compatible device presented by a user 12,and in fact may not know the type of mobile communication device 14utilized by the user 12. Alternatively, the communication serviceprovider 28 may provide mobile communication devices 14 to users 12,e.g., in conjunction with a service contract having a specific duration.This type of arrangement is frequently offered by communication serviceproviders 28, who may, e.g., subsidize part or all of the acquisitioncost of the mobile communication device 14 and may recoup the subsidythroughout the life of the service contract with the user 12, therebyreducing the user's initial barrier to entry into the service contract.The techniques discussed herein may be particularly useful in thiscontext, where the subsidy of the acquisition cost of the mobilecommunication device 14 may be partly or wholly paid by the providers 22of potentially solicited services 24 instead of the communicationservice provider 28. These techniques may also be advantageous in thiscontext for mid-range mobile communication devices 14. It may beappreciated that low-cost mobile communication devices 14 (e.g., simplecellular phones) may feature a comparatively low per-unit price, suchthat the subsidization is too small to warrant the use of thesetechniques; and high-cost mobile communication devices 14 (e.g.,full-featured smartphones and mobile computers) may be coupled withfixed-rate, unmetered data plans, such that the user 12 may not face theprospect of service costs 32 that incentivize participation in therecommendation system. Therefore, mid-range mobile communication devices14 may be sufficiently expensive to provide an advantage to theimplementation of the techniques discussed herein, while also beingcoupled to metered data plans that users 12 may wish to economizethrough participation in the recommendation service. Those of ordinaryskill in the art may devise many scenarios within which these techniquesmay be utilized.

A second aspect that may vary among embodiments of these techniquesrelates to the manner of detecting the user query for one or moresolicited services 24. As a first example, the user 12 may directlyinput a query to the mobile communication device 14, such as through aninput component 86. As a second example, the user 12 may perform a useraction from which a query may be inferred; e.g., while traveling on along highway trip, the user 12 may exit at an exit ramp near a mealtime,and the mobile communication device 14 may infer that the user 12 maywish to find providers, such as restaurants, that match the foodpreferences of the user 12. As a third example, the mobile communicationdevice 14 may detect a feature pertaining to the user 12, e.g., the fuelstatus of a vehicle operated by the user 12, and may perform a searchfor related services that match the preferences of the user 12, e.g.,nearby fuel depots with low prices or a particularly preferred type offuel. Those of ordinary skill in the art may devise many ways ofdetecting a user query pertaining to the user 12 while implementing thetechniques discussed herein.

A third aspect that may vary among embodiments of these techniquesrelates to the manner of identifying providers 22 of solicited services24 from the set of providers 22 in a provider database 20, which may bea comprehensive list of all known providers 22 of all known services 24.As a first example, the mobile communication device 14 may have accessto a user profile, wherein the preferences of the user 12 may be stored(e.g., either specified explicitly by the user 12 or inferred from prioruser actions), and upon receiving a user query 16 for a solicitedservice 24, the mobile communication device 14 may search the providerdatabase 20 for providers 22 of the service 24 that match the userpreferences stored in the user profile. As a second example, the mobilecommunication device 14 may include a location identifying device thatmay be used to identify a user location, and the mobile communicationdevice 14 may search the provider database 20 for providers 22 of theservice 24 that are located near the user location. The locationidentifying device may comprise, e.g., a geolocating device such asglobal positioning service (GPS) receiver that is capable of determiningthe user location according to the detected latitude and longitude. Themobile communication device 14 may then search the provider database 20for providers 22 that are located near the user location. Alternativelyor additionally, the location identifying device may comprise, e.g., areference point locating component, which may be capable of identifyingnearby landmarks of known locations. For example, the locationidentifying device may be able to identify wireless networks that arewithin range of the mobile communication device 14, and may be able toidentify a location specified by the wireless network broadcaster.Alternatively or additionally, the location identifying component mightbe capable of detecting the locations of nearby cellular network towerswith known and specified locations, and of triangulating the currentlocation of the mobile communication device 14 based on the signalstrengths of such cellular network towers. The mobile communicationdevice 14 may therefore be able to identify in the provider database 20at least one nearby provider 22 offering the solicited service 24 thatis located near the nearby reference point.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary scenario 110 featuring a user 12 of amobile communication device 14 configured to provide a set ofrecommendations 18 for providers 22 in response to a user query 16specifying at least one solicited service 24. The mobile communicationdevice 14 comprises a provider database 20 representing a set ofproviders 22 that may satisfy the user query 16. The mobilecommunication device 14 also comprises a user profile 112, whereinpreferences of the user 12 for various providers 22 and/or services 24may be stored and used to select preferred providers 22 from theprovider database 20. The mobile communication device 14 also comprisesa geolocation component 114 that is configured to detect a user location116 of the mobile communication device 14, and may be used to identifyproviders 22 of the solicited services 24 that are near the userlocation 116. By utilizing these resources, the mobile communicationdevice 14 may present to the user 12 a set of recommendations 18 ofproviders 22 that are both preferred by the user 12 according to theuser profile 112 and that are located conveniently near the userlocation 116. Those of ordinary skill in the art may devise manytechniques for selecting providers 22 of solicited services 24 from theprovider database 20 while implementing the techniques discussed herein.

A fourth aspect that may vary among embodiments of these techniquesrelates to the manner of presenting selected providers 22 to a user 12in response to a user query 16. As a first example, the set ofrecommendations 18 may simply be presented to the user 12 as a list ofproviders 20, and may also include, e.g., telephone numbers andaddresses. As a second example, the provider database 20 may compriseadvertisements of services 24 offered by varies providers 22, and theset of recommendations 18 may be presented to the user 12 as a set ofadvertisements of the solicited services 24 offered by the providers 22upon retrieval from the provider database 20. As a third example, upondetecting a selection of a provider 22 by the user 12, the mobilecommunication device 14 may identify a user location 116, compute aroute from the user location 116 to the provider 22, and present theroute to the user 12, in order to facilitate the user 12 in reaching theprovider 22. As a fourth example, the timing of the presentation of theset of recommendations 18 may provide additional advantages.

FIG. 7 presents an illustration of an exemplary scenario 120 featuringthe provision of a recommendation 18 to a user 12 in response to a userquery 16 for a particular restaurant. The mobile communication device 14in this exemplary scenario 120 features a geolocation component 114,whereby a user location 116 may be detected. Upon detecting from theuser 12 a selection of a provider 22 of the solicited service 24, themobile communication device 14 may query the geolocation component 114for the user location 116, and may compute a route from the userlocation 116 to the location of the selected provider 22. The mobilecommunication device 14 may also comprise a routing component 124, whichmay be configured to compute a route 126 from a first location to asecond location. The mobile communication device 14 may thereforeprovide the user location 116 and a provider location 122 to the routingcomponent 124, wherefrom may be computed a route 126. The mobilecommunication device 14 may therefore display the selected provider 22along with the route 126, e.g., as a set of turn-by-turn directions.

In another such scenario, the user query 16 may comprise a communicationsession 26 initiated by the user 12 with a contacted provider 22. Themobile communication device 14 may be configured to, while initiatingthe communication session 26 with the contacted provider 22, present tothe user 12 a set of other providers 22 of the services 24 offered bythe contacted provider 22. For example, if the user 12 initiates contactwith a restaurant offering a particular type of food, the mobilecommunication device 14 may identify the type of food offered by thecontacted restaurant, and may search the provider database 20 for otherrestaurants offering the same type of food, but that may be more highlypreferred by the user 12 (e.g., that may be nearer, more affordable, orof higher quality.) Moreover, the set of recommendations 18 may bepresented while the user 12 during the initiation of the communicationsession 26 with the called provider 22. If the user 12 then selects oneof the other providers 22, the mobile communication component mayterminate the communication session 26 with the contacted provider 22and may initiate a new communication session 26 between the user 12 andthe selected provider 22. In this manner, the mobile communicationdevice 14 may promote the recommendation to the user 12 of morepreferable providers 22 of a solicited service 24 in a timely manner andat a pertinent moment, when the attention of the user 12 may beavailable and focused on selecting a provider 22 of the solicitedservice 24. Those of ordinary skill in the art may devise manytechniques for presenting recommendations of providers 22 of one or moresolicited services 24 to a user 12 while implementing the techniquesdiscussed herein.

A fifth aspect that may vary among embodiments of these techniquesrelates to the manner of calculating the service cost 32 to be chargedto the at least one provider 22. In some embodiments of thesetechniques, the service cost 32 may be based on the establishment of thecommunication session 26 by the communication service provider 28between the provider 22 and the user 12. However, in other embodimentsof these techniques, additional service costs 32 maybe chargeable to atleast one provider 22 based on additional services that may be performedby the communication session provider 28 on behalf of one or moreproviders 22.

As a first example of this fifth aspect, the communication sessionprovider 28 may provide many types of additional services on behalf ofthe one or more providers 22. As a first variation, the communicationsession provider 28 may advertise a provider 22, e.g., by presenting anadvertisement generated by the provider 22, or by promoting theadvertiser 22 within the search results generated in response to theuser query 16. As a second variation, after the user 12 selects aparticular provider 22, the communication session provider 28 mayfacilitate the patronizing of the provider 22, e.g., by displayingdirections from the current location of the user 12 to the provider 22,or by adding the provider 22 to a route currently followed by the user12.

As a second example of this fifth aspect, with respect to variousadditional services that maybe provided by the communication sessionprovider 28 on behalf of one or more providers 22, the communicationsession provider 28 and a provider 22 may agree upon the service costs32 of such services in various ways. As a first variation, thecommunication session provider 28 may establish a set of rates forvarious additional services (e.g., an advertising rate for presenting anadvertisement and a routing rate for adding the location of a provider22 to a route of a user 12) that one or more providers 22 may accept.The communication session provider 28 may then provide such additionalservices to various users 12 on behalf of the providers 22 who haveaccepted the established rates, and may charge such providers 22(included in a service charge 32) upon providing the additional serviceto a user 12. As a second variation, one or more providers 22 maysolicit various additional services at particular rates, and thecommunication session provider 28 may accept such solicitations byproviding the solicited service(s) to one or more users 12 and byincluding the advertised rates in the service charges 32 assessed tosuch providers 22. In one such embodiment, the communication sessionprovider 28 may even endeavor to achieve a revenue stream from suchproviders 22 by offering many solicited services, and might even selectamong a combination of such solicited services that achieves a desirablyhigh revenue stream (e.g., in response to a user query 16 of aparticular service, search results may be presented by selectingcorresponding providers 22, and may be ordered based on the rate offeredby each provider 22 for inclusion in the search results.) In anothersuch variation, the services may be performed only under certainconditions (e.g., presenting an advertisement or recommendation 18 of aprovider 22 only if the user 12 is within a convenient distance of theprovider 22), and/or may condition payment of service costs 32 for suchservices upon various conditions (e.g., a higher service cost 32 may bepayable by the provider 22 if the user 12 is closer to the provider 22at the time of a recommendation 18, such that the user 12 may be morelikely to patronize the provider 22 in response to the recommendation18.)

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary scenario 130 featuring a communicationsession provider 28 that provides a set of additional services to a user12 of a mobile communication device 14 on behalf of a provider 22comprising a pizza restaurant. In this exemplary scenario 130, theprovider 22 and the communication session provider 28 may negotiate(either at an earlier time point, or on an ad hoc basis) an agreementfor the communication service provider 28 to provide various services tothe user 12 on behalf of the provider 22, and for the provider 22 to paythe communication service provider 28 a particular rate upon performanceof the respective services. As a first example, when the user 12 submitsa user query 16 to the mobile communication device 14 (e.g., for nearbyrestaurants serving pizza), the mobile communication device 14 mayprovide a set of recommendations 18, including the provider 22. Uponproviding this recommendation 18 of the provider 22, the mobilecommunication device 14 may notify the provider 22 and/or thecommunication service provider 28, and a first service cost 32 may bepaid to the communication service provider 28 in exchange for providingthe recommendation 18 to the user 12. Moreover, the mobile communicationdevice 14 may be configured to present this recommendation 18 withpriority (e.g., with greater emphasis, higher in the list ofrecommendations 18, or exclusively selected) over the recommendations 18of other providers 22 (e.g., where such other providers 22 have offeredto pay smaller service costs 32 or no service costs 32 for suchrecommendations 18.) The user 12 may accept the recommendation 18, andmay next request the mobile communication device 14 to establish acommunication session 26 with the provider 22. The mobile communicationdevice 14 may therefore establish the communication session 26 betweenthe user 12 and the provider 22, and in exchange, the provider 22 maypay a second service cost 32 to the communication session provider 28.The user 12 may also request form the mobile communication device 14 tocompute and display a route 16 from the current location of the user 12to the provider 22, and in exchange, the provider 22 may pay a thirdservice cost 32 to the communication session provider 28. In thismanner, the communication session provider 28 may configure the mobilecommunication device 14 to perform various additional services(supplemental to establishing the communication session 26) on behalf ofthe provider 22, and may achieve a revenue stream from the provider 22in exchange for the provision of such services. Those of ordinary skillin the art may devise many techniques for establishing service costs 32for additional services performed by the mobile communication device 14on behalf of the provider 22 while implementing the techniques discussedherein.

A sixth aspect that may vary among embodiments of these techniquesrelates to the manner of charging at least a portion of the service cost32 (once calculated as per the fifth aspect discussed herein) to the atleast one provider 22. In these embodiments of the techniques discussedherein, the providers 22 of the various services 24 may cover part orall of the service cost 32 to the communication service provider 28 ofproviding the communication session 26. This coverage may enable theuser 12 to partake of the recommendation service at a reduced or nocost, while also promoting the patronage of the services 24 of theproviders 22.

As a first example, the mobile communication device 14 may be coupledwith a metered data plan of the user 12. Ordinarily, when the user 12initiates a communication session 26 with a party, the communicationservice provider 28 may assess the service cost 32 by deducting theusage of the communication session 26 from the metered data plan of theuser 12. However, when a communication session 26 is initiated betweenthe user 12 and a provider 22 of a solicited service 24, where theprovider 22 has been recommended to the user 12 in a set ofrecommendations 18 in response to a user query 16, the mobilecommunication device 14 may initiate the communication session 26outside of the metered data plan. In this manner, the user 12 may not bebilled for utilizing the recommendation service. Moreover, in a furtherembodiment, the communications service provider 28 may charge to theprovider 22 at least a portion of the service cost 32 of thecommunication session 26 initiated between the user 12 and the provider22. In this manner, the provider 22 may cover the cost of thecommunication session 26 with the user 12 arising from therecommendation by the mobile communication device 14, while the user 12may not be charged. In a further embodiment, the mobile communicationdevice 14 may not even have a general-purpose data plan, and the user 12may be able to use the mobile communication device free of service costs32 to utilize solicited services 24 of recommended providers 22.

As a second example, the mobile communication device 14 may compile andcharge to respective providers 22 a set of per-instance service costs 32related to various recommendation services provided by the mobilecommunication device 14 on behalf of the provider 22. In theseembodiments, the retailer of the mobile communication device 14 and/orthe communication service provider 28 may negotiate with providers 22 toestablish a per-activity service cost 32 that is to be paid by theprovider 22 in exchange for promoting the patronage of the provider 22by various users 12. In a first such embodiment, the mobilecommunication device 14 may charge a service cost 32 to a provider 22upon storing a representation of the provider 22 in the providerdatabase 20, such as when a representation of the provider 22 is firstcreated, or when the representation of the provider 22 is updated ormaintained. In a second such embodiment, the mobile communication device14 may charge a service cost 32 to a provider 22 upon presenting theprovider 22 to the user 12 in response to the user query 16, e.g.,within a set of recommendations 18 of providers 22 of the solicitedservices 24. This arrangement may resemble a “per-impression”advertising payment relationship that is often developed for onlineadvertisements. In a third such embodiment, the mobile communicationdevice 14 may charge a service cost 32 to a provider 22 upon initiatingthe communication session 26 between the user 12 and the provider 22.This arrangement may resemble a “click-through” advertising paymentrelationship, wherein the provider 22 is charged for user actions thatindicate an interest of the user 12 in partaking of the services 24 ofthe provider 22. In a further such embodiment, the service cost 32 maybe computed proportionally to the duration of the communication session26 between the user 12 and the provider 22. This computation may behelpful, e.g., for charging a provider 22 more for communicationsessions 26 that are likely to have resulted in a sale of a service 24,and/or for encouraging providers 22 to handle solicitations by users 12promptly, thereby improving the user experience with the recommendationservice. Those of ordinary skill in the art may devise many techniquesfor computing and charging service costs 32 to providers 22 in exchangefor inclusion in the recommendation service while implementing thetechniques discussed herein.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed asexample forms of implementing the claims.

As used in this application, the terms “component,” “module,” “system”,“interface”, and the like are generally intended to refer to acomputer-related entity, either hardware, a combination of hardware andsoftware, software, or software in execution. For example, a componentmay be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, aprocessor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program,and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application runningon a controller and the controller can be a component. One or morecomponents may reside within a process and/or thread of execution and acomponent may be localized on one computer and/or distributed betweentwo or more computers.

Furthermore, the claimed subject matter may be implemented as a method,apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programming and/orengineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware, or anycombination thereof to control a computer to implement the disclosedsubject matter. The term “article of manufacture” as used herein isintended to encompass a computer program accessible from anycomputer-readable device, carrier, or media. Of course, those skilled inthe art will recognize many modifications may be made to thisconfiguration without departing from the scope or spirit of the claimedsubject matter.

FIG. 9 and the following discussion provide a brief, general descriptionof a suitable computing environment to implement embodiments of one ormore of the provisions set forth herein. The operating environment ofFIG. 9 is only one example of a suitable operating environment and isnot intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use orfunctionality of the operating environment. Example computing devicesinclude, but are not limited to, personal computers, server computers,hand-held or laptop devices, mobile devices (such as mobile phones,Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), media players, and the like),multiprocessor systems, consumer electronics, mini computers, mainframecomputers, distributed computing environments that include any of theabove systems or devices, and the like.

Although not required, embodiments are described in the general contextof “computer readable instructions” being executed by one or morecomputing devices. Computer readable instructions may be distributed viacomputer readable media (discussed below). Computer readableinstructions may be implemented as program modules, such as functions,objects, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), data structures, andthe like, that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstractdata types. Typically, the functionality of the computer readableinstructions may be combined or distributed as desired in variousenvironments.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a system 140 comprising a computingdevice 142 configured to implement one or more embodiments providedherein. In one configuration, computing device 142 includes at least oneprocessing unit 146 and memory 148. Depending on the exact configurationand type of computing device, memory 148 may be volatile (such as RAM,for example), non-volatile (such as ROM, flash memory, etc., forexample) or some combination of the two. This configuration isillustrated in FIG. 9 by dashed line 144.

In other embodiments, device 142 may include additional features and/orfunctionality. For example, device 142 may also include additionalstorage (e.g., removable and/or non-removable) including, but notlimited to, magnetic storage, optical storage, and the like. Suchadditional storage is illustrated in FIG. 9 by storage 150. In oneembodiment, computer readable instructions to implement one or moreembodiments provided herein may be in storage 150. Storage 150 may alsostore other computer readable instructions to implement an operatingsystem, an application program, and the like. Computer readableinstructions may be loaded in memory 148 for execution by processingunit 146, for example.

The term “computer readable media” as used herein includes computerstorage media. Computer storage media includes volatile and nonvolatile,removable and non-removable media implemented in any method ortechnology for storage of information such as computer readableinstructions or other data. Memory 148 and storage 150 are examples ofcomputer storage media. Computer storage media includes, but is notlimited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology,CD-ROM, Digital Versatile Disks (DVDs) or other optical storage,magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or othermagnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to storethe desired information and which can be accessed by device 142. Anysuch computer storage media may be part of device 142.

Device 142 may also include communication connection(s) 156 that allowsdevice 142 to communicate with other devices. Communicationconnection(s) 156 may include, but is not limited to, a modem, a NetworkInterface Card (NIC), an integrated network interface, a radio frequencytransmitter/receiver, an infrared port, a USB connection, or otherinterfaces for connecting computing device 142 to other computingdevices. Communication connection(s) 156 may include a wired connectionor a wireless connection. Communication connection(s) 156 may transmitand/or receive communication media.

The term “computer readable media” may include communication media.Communication media typically embodies computer readable instructions orother data in a “modulated data signal” such as a carrier wave or othertransport mechanism and includes any information delivery media. Theterm “modulated data signal” may include a signal that has one or moreof its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encodeinformation in the signal.

Device 142 may include input device(s) 154 such as keyboard, mouse, pen,voice input device, touch input device, infrared cameras, video inputdevices, and/or any other input device. Output device(s) 152 such as oneor more displays, speakers, printers, and/or any other output device mayalso be included in device 142. Input device(s) 154 and output device(s)152 may be connected to device 142 via a wired connection, wirelessconnection, or any combination thereof. In one embodiment, an inputdevice or an output device from another computing device may be used asinput device(s) 154 or output device(s) 152 for computing device 142.

Components of computing device 142 may be connected by variousinterconnects, such as a bus. Such interconnects may include aPeripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), such as PCI Express, aUniversal Serial Bus (USB), firewire (IEEE 1394), an optical busstructure, and the like. In another embodiment, components of computingdevice 142 may be interconnected by a network. For example, memory 148may be comprised of multiple physical memory units located in differentphysical locations interconnected by a network.

Those skilled in the art will realize that storage devices utilized tostore computer readable instructions may be distributed across anetwork. For example, a computing device 160 accessible via network 158may store computer readable instructions to implement one or moreembodiments provided herein. Computing device 142 may access computingdevice 160 and download a part or all of the computer readableinstructions for execution. Alternatively, computing device 142 maydownload pieces of the computer readable instructions, as needed, orsome instructions may be executed at computing device 142 and some atcomputing device 160.

Various operations of embodiments are provided herein. In oneembodiment, one or more of the operations described may constitutecomputer readable instructions stored on one or more computer readablemedia, which if executed by a computing device, will cause the computingdevice to perform the operations described. The order in which some orall of the operations are described should not be construed as to implythat these operations are necessarily order dependent. Alternativeordering will be appreciated by one skilled in the art having thebenefit of this description. Further, it will be understood that not alloperations are necessarily present in each embodiment provided herein.

Moreover, the word “exemplary” is used herein to mean serving as anexample, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or design describedherein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as advantageousover other aspects or designs. Rather, use of the word exemplary isintended to present concepts in a concrete fashion. As used in thisapplication, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” ratherthan an exclusive “or”. That is, unless specified otherwise, or clearfrom context, “X employs A or B” is intended to mean any of the naturalinclusive permutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or Xemploys both A and B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under any ofthe foregoing instances. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” as usedin this application and the appended claims may generally be construedto mean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from contextto be directed to a singular form.

Also, although the disclosure has been shown and described with respectto one or more implementations, equivalent alterations and modificationswill occur to others skilled in the art based upon a reading andunderstanding of this specification and the annexed drawings. Thedisclosure includes all such modifications and alterations and islimited only by the scope of the following claims. In particular regardto the various functions performed by the above described components(e.g., elements, resources, etc.), the terms used to describe suchcomponents are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, toany component which performs the specified function of the describedcomponent (e.g., that is functionally equivalent), even though notstructurally equivalent to the disclosed structure which performs thefunction in the herein illustrated exemplary implementations of thedisclosure. In addition, while a particular feature of the disclosuremay have been disclosed with respect to only one of severalimplementations, such feature may be combined with one or more otherfeatures of the other implementations as may be desired and advantageousfor any given or particular application. Furthermore, to the extent thatthe terms “includes”, “having”, “has”, “with”, or variants thereof areused in either the detailed description or the claims, such terms areintended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising.”

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of connecting a user of a mobilecommunication device with at least one provider of a service solicitedby the user, the mobile communication device having a processor andaccess to a provider database identifying, for respective providers, atleast one service provided by the provider, the mobile communicationdevice coupled with a service cost, the method comprising: executing onthe processor instructions configured to: upon detecting a user query ofat least one solicited service: identify in the provider database atleast one provider offering the solicited service, and present to theuser the at least one provider; upon detecting a user selection of aselected provider, present to the user an option to initiate acommunication session between the user and the selected provider; andupon detecting a communication session between the user and the selectedprovider, charge to the selected provider of the solicited service atleast a portion of the service cost.
 2. The method of claim 1: themobile communication device comprising a mobile phone having a display;presenting the providers to the user comprising: displaying theproviders on the display; and the communication session comprising acall initiated to a telephone number associated with the provider. 3.The method of claim 1, identifying the at least one provider comprising:identifying a user location, and searching the provider database forproviders near the user location offering the solicited service.
 4. Themethod of claim 3: the mobile communication device comprising ageolocation component, and identifying the at least one providercomprising: querying the geolocation component to identify a userlocation, and identifying in the provider database at least one nearbyprovider offering the solicited service and near the user location. 5.The method of claim 3: the mobile communication device comprising areference point locating component, and identifying the at least oneprovider comprising: querying the reference point locating component toidentify at least one nearby reference point, and identifying in theprovider database at least one nearby provider offering the solicitedservice and near the nearby reference point.
 6. The method of claim 1:the provider database comprising at least one advertisement of a serviceoffered by a provider; and presenting the providers to the usercomprising: presenting to the user the advertisement of the provider forthe solicited service.
 7. The method of claim 1, the instructionsfurther configured to, upon detecting the user selection of the at leastone provider: identify a user location; compute a route from the userlocation to the provider; and present the route to the user.
 8. Themethod of claim 1: the user query comprising a communication sessioninitiated with the selected provider; presenting providers comprising:presenting providers to the user while initiating the communicationsession with the selected provider; and the instructions furtherconfigured to, upon detecting a user selection of a second selectedprovider other than the selected provider: terminate the communicationsession with the selected provider, and initiate a communication sessionbetween the user and the second selected provider.
 9. The method ofclaim 1: the mobile communication device coupled with a metered dataplan of the user, and initiating the communication session comprising:initiating a communication session between the user and the provider,the communication session initiated outside of the metered data plan.10. The method of claim 9: the metered data plan provided by acommunications service provider, and initiating the communicationsession outside of the metered data plan comprising: charging to theuser the service cost associated with communication sessions initiatedbetween the user and parties other than the provider; and charging tothe provider at least a portion of the service cost associated withcommunication sessions initiated between the user and the provider. 11.The method of claim 1, charging the at least one provider comprising:charging a service cost to the at least one provider upon storing arepresentation of the provider in the provider database.
 12. The methodof claim 1, charging the at least one provider comprising: charging aservice cost to the at least one provider in response to, upon detectingthe user query, presenting to the user the provider.
 13. The method ofclaim 1, charging the at least one provider comprising: charging aservice cost to the at least one provider upon initiating thecommunication session between the user and the provider.
 14. The methodof claim 13, charging the at least one provider comprising: charging aservice cost to the at least one provider that is proportional to aduration of the communication session between the user and the provider.15. The method of claim 1: the instructions further configured toperform on the mobile communication device at least one additionalservice on behalf of the provider; and charging the at least oneprovider comprising: charging a service cost to the at least oneprovider in exchange for performing the at least one additional serviceon behalf of the provider.
 16. A computer-readable memory devicecomprising a system interfacing with a mobile communication devicehaving access to a provider database identifying, for respectiveproviders, at least one service provided by the provider, the mobilecommunication device coupled with a service cost, the system configuredto connect a user of the mobile communication device with at least oneprovider of a service solicited by the user, the system comprising: aprovider presenting component configured to, upon detecting a user queryof at least one solicited service: identify in the provider database atleast one provider offering the solicited service, and present to theuser the at least one provider; a communication session initiatingcomponent configured to, upon detecting a user selection of a selectedprovider, present to the user an option to initiate a communicationsession between the user and the selected provider; and a providercharging component configured to, upon detecting a communication sessionbetween the user and the selected provider, charge to the selectedprovider of the solicited service at least a portion of the servicecost.
 17. The computer-readable memory device of claim 16: the mobilecommunication device comprising a geolocation component, and theprovider presenting component configured to: query the geolocationcomponent to identify a user location, and identify in the providerdatabase at least one nearby provider offering the solicited service andnear the user location.
 18. The computer-readable memory device of claim17: the mobile communication device comprising a routing component, andthe communication session initiating component configured to, upondetecting a user selection of at least one nearby provider: compute aroute from the user location detected by the global positioning servicecomponent to the nearby provider, and present the route to the user. 19.The computer-readable memory device of claim 15: the communicationsession initiating component further configured to perform on the mobilecommunication device at least one additional service on behalf of theselected provider; and the provider charging component furtherconfigured to charge the service cost to the selected provider inexchange for performing the at least one additional service on behalf ofthe selected provider.
 20. A computer-readable storage medium comprisinginstructions that, when executed on a processor of a mobilecommunication device comprising a mobile phone having coupled a metereddata plan and having a display, a geolocation component, and access to aprovider database comprising at least one advertisement of at least oneservice offered by at least one provider, connect a user of the mobilecommunication device with at least one provider of a service solicitedby the user by: for respective providers, identifying at least oneservice provided by the provider; upon detecting a user query of atleast one solicited service: querying the geolocation component toidentify a user location, searching the provider database for nearbyproviders near the user location offering the solicited service and nearthe user location, and presenting to the user on the display the atleast one advertisement of the solicited service offered by the at leastone nearby provider; upon detecting a user selection of a provider:initiating a communication session comprising a call initiated to atelephone number of the provider outside of the metered data plan,compute a route from the user location to the provider, and present theroute to the user; and upon detecting a communication session betweenthe user and a contacted provider, charging at least a portion of themetered data plan to the at least one provider that is proportional to aduration of the communication session between the user and the provider.